


What is it?

by happyinthesilence



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-25
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-26 10:26:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1684991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyinthesilence/pseuds/happyinthesilence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh just can't figure it out...</p>
            </blockquote>





	What is it?

**Author's Note:**

> literally no dialogue, forgive me. Raleigh is just trying to figure this obsession out.

There was something about Chuck’s forearms that Raleigh found entrancing.  
It didn’t matter where they were or who else was in the room, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of them. He wasn’t quite sure why.

  
There was a dark self-conscious voice that said it was because it was one of the few places Chuck didn’t carry scars.

  
Raleigh shut that voice up real quick. He carried his own scars, they all did. When he looked at Chuck’s he didn’t find them disgusting. Extensive? Yes. Painful? Sometimes. Disgusting? Never.

  
So what was it about Chuck’s forearms that kept drawing Raleigh’s attention?

  
After Pitfall, Chuck’s survival was a miracle, his recovery questionable, and his stubborn refusal to give up undeniable.

  
When the doctors told Herc Chuck would most likely lose his left leg, Herc simply stayed next to his son’s side with a quiet you don’t know my boy.

  
Mako would sit next to the bed quietly reading him Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in rhythm with the ventilators keeping him alive. Apparently Sherlock Holmes was Chuck’s favorite fictional character.

  
Newt and Hermann would visit with Herc regularly. Newt would peruse Chuck’s medical file making sure he was receiving the best care, and the two would stay until their bickering got them kicked out.

  
Tendo was a constant companion. Chatting happily with Chuck as if the man wasn’t laying there in a medically induced coma.

  
But Raleigh had no clue what to do. The Joy of surviving had been overshadowed by loss for so many of them. He wanted to celebrate but it wasn’t quite a victory with his partner mourning the loss of her father and watching her childhood friend fight for his life.

  
At the same time he wasn’t a part of this family. He didn’t feel comfortable invading Herc’s space, his time with his son, like the rest of them did. So he would swing by and peek in through the door, check in with the nurses, and sometimes leave food or clothes for Herc.

  
He should have known that wouldn’t last. Honestly he thought Mako would be the one to drag him inside, but as it turns out Newt is much harder to say no to. Only because he never stopped talking long enough for Raleigh to say anything, much less no.

  
Herc simply smiled at him and nodded to a chair. As Raleigh looked over his battered form, Chuck’s forearms caught his attention for the first time. When he realized he was staring he quickly looked away with a blush, and no clue why he was blushing.

  
When Chuck woke up he was his usual grumpy self, with one exception. He was trying. He made an effort to speak to his father, apologized to Mako, and even tolerated the bickering scientists longer than anyone expected. He treated Raleigh with distance and respect.

  
As he recovered Raleigh noticed that first embarrassing starefest was not going to be his last. He watched Chuck’s forearms constantly.  
The way they flexed when he was working on his therapy. The slowly fading golden tan from being inside longer than he was ever used to. The way his veins stood out as they ran over long sinuous muscles.

  
Months of staring finally caught up with him when Chuck was finally released from medical. He used those gorgeous forearms to pin Raleigh to the wall outside his bunk. He discovered his favorite time to look at them was when they bulged out from supporting Chuck’s weight as he pounded Raleigh into the mattress.  
Over the years he found so many ways to love them.

  
He loved falling asleep on them while they were spread out on the couch, Chuck’s warm body behind him. Or when Chuck had one slung across his eyes first thing in the morning and Raleigh nuzzled gently along the ridges of firm muscle until Chuck woke up enough to move it out of the way for lazy kisses.

  
He loved when they wrapped tightly around his waist when Chuck slid up behind him in the kitchen after he got home from a long day. Chuck peppering his neck with nips and kisses.

  
He even realized his favorite time to look at them wasn’t in bed, but when he was cradling the 3 day old little boy they had welcomed into their lives. Chuck eyes filled with awe and fear while he held their son with infinite gentleness, with arms that were strong enough to kill someone.

  
There was something about Chuck’s forearms that Raleigh found entrancing. He still had no idea what it was, but he was fully prepared to spend the rest of his life it figuring out.


End file.
